Boot

[the gap]

Can anyone help.

Elderly friend with XP Pro.
No XP CD etc.
No back ups.
Store built computer, he cannot remember which store, no clues.

Had not been updated for a while.
Ist update no problem, 2nd required a restart.
Loads to cannot start screen with all the options of Safe mode etc.
Only goes around in circles, will not start in any mode.
Unplugged all devices still no luck.

Is there any way of doing a Repair?
All I have is my copy of XP HOME, will this do a Repair of PRO or just blow it all together.
Thanks.
Phil.

 

[ksiemb]

Can anyone help.

Elderly friend with XP Pro.
No XP CD etc.
No back ups.
Store built computer, he cannot remember which store, no clues.

Had not been updated for a while.
Ist update no problem, 2nd required a restart.
Loads to cannot start screen with all the options of Safe mode etc.
Only goes around in circles, will not start in any mode.
Unplugged all devices still no luck.

Is there any way of doing a Repair?
All I have is my copy of XP HOME, will this do a Repair of PRO or just blow it all together.
Thanks.
Phil.

Do not use Home to repair Pro. Was there a problem with the unit, or you saw it was out of date, and decided to update it, and the 2nd (Windows ?) update failed to restart ?

Without any type of CD's you are pretty limited as to recourse.
1- Boot from some type of Rescue CD and try to correct the problem.

2 - Remove the Hard Drive. Hang it in another computer. Save what personal files and drivers folder you can to flash drive. Put the HD back in other computer and restore to factory settings.

 

[the gap]

Thanks ksiemb.
Mechanically fine. Just XP out of date while gent in hospital.
What Rescue CD?
Unfortunately, if I use #2 because there is no XP CD or number, it will be necessary to buy a new Windows system.

 

[ksiemb]

Thanks ksiemb.
Mechanically fine. Just XP out of date while gent in hospital.
What Rescue CD?
Unfortunately, if I use #2 because there is no XP CD or number, it will be necessary to buy a new Windows system.

#2 Will restore from the Factory restore partition, provided they are still on the hard drive meaning the drive has not been reformatted or partitions deleted.

A rescue CD enables the system to boot from the Rescue CD itself. Something like Linux rescue CD. (But you might have to have some knowledge of other commands to be able to fix anything. ) You might search for one.

You mentioned "Going around in circles" That is probably due to the boot file containing a SETUP entry due to the restart problem after update#2.
You might boot from Your Home CD (command prompt) - Edit c:\boot.ini
Save it as another file name (in case you need it again) then remove the reference to setup, save file then reboot & see what happens. - Kind of a last resort tactic !

 

[the gap]

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